THE WALL OF FACES

Dear Captain Father Michael Quealy, Thank you for your service as a Catholic Chaplin. Thank you for the souls you helped heal in the midst of such pain and destruction. I researched you on the 55th anniversary of the star of your tour. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. Tomorrow is Independence Day. Time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness, especially now. Rest in peace with the angels.

Captain Michael J Quealy was awarded the Silver Star Medal for his exemplary courage under fire. He served as a Chaplain and was assigned to the 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division.

CPT Michael J. Quealy was a Catholic Chaplain attached to Headquarters & Headquarters Company (HHC), 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division. Quealy was with 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry, during the Battle of Ap Cha Do, one of several engagements during Operation Attleboro, a search and destroy operation near Tay Ninh City in Tay Ninh Province, RVN. The operation was spearheaded by the 196th Light Infantry Brigade with the objective to find North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong base areas and force them to fight. During the battle, Quealy was reportedly administering last rites to a GI when he was fatally hit in the chest and abdomen by Viet Cong small arms fire. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org, wikipedia.org, and “Catholic Chaplain Killed in Vietnam.” Pacific Stars & Stripes, November 13, 1966]

I served mass for Father Mike at Fort Ord's 8th Street Chapel while my mom played the organ and sang. I remember Father Mike as a soft spoken and gentle man. The priest Father Mike replaced was Father Don Hastings. He left Fort Ord for Vietnam as well.

At the time we all were counting the days until our dad's were deployed to Vietnam. I know that Father Mike volunteered for this duty and wasn't at Fort Ord very long. The news of his death came as a great blow. It was softened by the fact he was saving souls to the very end.

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Thank you Captain Quealy for your devotion and exemplary courage under fire.